TAMIU Annual Report 2018

2018 Annual Report / IMPACT L E A D E R S H I P / I M PA C T Measure of a Son Traces Impact of a Mother A mother’s birthday is a great opportunity to acknowledge an impact often beyond measure. For one son, the chance to honor that impact has created a newmeasure with generational dimensions. Carlos Zaffirini, son of Senator Judith Zaffirini, initiated a Teachers’ College Student Loan Debt Grant Program in her name, announcing it in advance of her Feb. 13 birthday in ceremonies at TAMIU. It will continue through 2020. Five Laredo educators received $2,000 grants to- wards their college student loan debts. To qualify, teachers must have taught in Laredo for at least five years, have a college student loan debt of at least $5,000, and be selected by his or her institution. Zaffirini shared his motivation. “My mother completed three degrees at The University of Texas at Austin only because of a National Defense Student Loan,” Zaffirini, Jr. said, “and she paid it largely through teacher loan forgiveness programs.”  “Her passion since then has been to make higher education accessible and affordable for all Texans, especially South Texans. What better way to honor her than to help teachers pay their college student loan debts? This is my way of saying ‘thank you’ to her, but also to those who made her education possible through student loans,” he explained.  Zaffirini, an attorney, businessperson and philanthropist, is president and CEO of Adelanto Health Care Ventures (AHCV), LLC, a healthcare finance consulting firm. Since 2012, he has honored his mother annually with endowed gifts including scholarships at TAMIU, UT-Austin, and the Baylor College of Medicine; the Ac- cess to Justice Initiative at the UT Law School, and a family patient suite at the UT Dell Seton Medical Center. Faculty Continue Vital Bilingual Research TAMIU faculty members are providing the most up-to-date insights on how bilinguals comprehend and store information with their release of two published books.  TAMIU Regents Professor Dr. Roberto R. Heredia and Dr. Anna Cieślicka, associate professor of psychology, together with Dr. AlfredoArdila, professor of communication sciences and disorders at Florida International University, and Mónica Rosselli, professor and assistant chair of psychology at Florida Atlantic University, authored “Psychology of Bilingualism: The Cognitive and Emotional World of Bilinguals.” The book analyzes the psychological world of bilinguals and cognitive milestones faced throughout their lifespan. It also integrates up-to-date bilingualism research, focusing on cognitive and emotional experiences of bilinguals. It’s the fifth volume in Springer’s “Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series,” which Drs. Heredia and Cieślicka co-founded and co-edit. 22